Let's begin by saying that we know of no restriction on the
use of the Confederate Battle Flag by groups such as the KKK,
militia, or almost all of the various hate groups. Although we don't like it,
we guess, given our Constitution, that nothing can
be done about it. If burning the U.S. Flag is "freedom of speech"
then carrying the Battle Flag is also.

We'll not go into a discussion on the merits or lack thereof of
any of the groups using the Battle Flag (other than indirectly).
Who they are and what they are, is self-evident from their
statements and actions. All we will say is that they have demeaned
a flag under which tens of thousands of young men fought and died.

Too often this is over looked by the haters of hate groups. No
one stops long enough to realize that what the Battle Flag
represents---the courage, endurance, sacrifice, and glory---was
frozen for all time, when the Civil War ended. Except for those
who use the Battle Flag to honor the Confederate soldiers and
their cause, no one else using the flag for a specific cause,
can transfer one iota of the character, prestige, and glory for
which the flag stands, to themselves or their cause.

And that is, of course, what they are trying to do.

Those who display the Battle Flag in a racist parade, or use
the flag associated with some "new" cause, are trying to tell the
world that their purpose or cause is at the same level of honor
as the Confederate struggle. It will always be an erroneous belief.

It has worked the other way.

It is largely overlooked by these groups, that the Confederate
soldier was fighting for his family and his home against the
Northern invaders. The South was not trying to overthrow the
U.S. Government, it was trying to leave it. And men died
carrying the Battle Flag and protecting it. We are confident that
few of the men who fought under that banner would support those
groups using it today.

But now, hate groups have, by their association with it, brought
the Battle Flag into disrepute in current circles. It is used by
the left-wing media to indicate a radical, a "crazy", in movies and
on T.V.

And even if the Devil himself---and I'm not sure he hasn't---
associates with the Battle Flag, it makes it no less than that which it
was in the 1860's; the Flag of a proud army, people, and nation.

The real Battle Flag is still around today.

You can see the real flag associated with the Sons and Daughters
of the Confederacy. You can see it carried by re-enactors on the
sacred battlefields. And you can see it in the museums throughout
the country. What those other groups carry is an ersatz copy of
the flag. It is not, and can never be, the real thing.

So protest the display of the ersatz flag.

Protest when the ersatz flag is unfurled by those who do not
intend to honor the Battle Flag's original use. Protest
against those who use it to further racism, segregation,
and/or separatism.

But please do not target those who would use the flag to honor
its history and their heritage.

*We acknowledge that the flag referred to on this page was not an official
Confederate battle flag and was never sanctioned by the Confederate Government.
We are told it closely resembles the "Naval Jack" flag. However, informal or not,
Southern soldiers fought and died to protect it, and in doing so, made it as
legitimate as any flag in that war.

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